...reflections...

"You must be the change you want to see in the world."
~ Mahatma Gandhi
The Words of Gandhi (Hardcover)

Street Scene, Changsha, P.R.C. (February 2009)

"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts." 
~ Bertrand Russell

Politics 101?

"Donald Trump is redundant evidence that if your net worth is high enough, your IQ can be very low and you can still intrude into American politics."
~ George Will

Watching Faux News Lowers Student Math Scores?

What you know depends on what you watch?
Read More...

59 + 35 + 26 = 100%

Confirmed: Fox News makes people dumb
Read More...

Fenghuang, P.R.C. (April 2009)

Photo by Peter Rimar.

Joke of the Day?

GE introduces the Mitt Romney limited edition light bulb. Old ideas made new again. Burns out quick. 95% inefficient. Wastes all it's energy making hot air.

Photos by Peter Rimar

Obama spending binge never happened?
Read More...

Hatred only breeds more hatred.

North Carolina pastor calls for death of gays, lesbians by trapping them inside electric fence? Read More...



First they came for the communists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a communist.

Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Jew.

Then they came for me
and there was no one left to speak out for me.

~ Pastor Martin Niemöller

“When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Sinclair Lewis

Facebook? Facebook. Facebook!

"Faith becomes an ideology when some collective fear or hatred turns political."
~Peter Rimar

[id·i·ot all o gee]

Maybe it's a sign?

"The world is a tragedy to those who feel, but a comedy to those who think."
~ Horace Walpole

When all else fails...

24 Hours in a day.

24 Beers in a case.

Coincidence?

Sometimes 'FAIR' and 'BALANCED'?

People filter information based on their own belief system. For example, people who watch Faux News on a regular basis tend to be more conservative in their political beliefs. No problem (it is what it is).

However, despite it's political flavor (along with the countless number of daily editorial decisions supporting a specific agenda), should a media corporation (radio, television or print) be allowed to make direct campaign contributions? Could this sea of corporate money interfere with the political process? Do unlimited 527 campaign donations to a specific candidate endanger the foundations of a Free Society? Do you ever ask yourself, "why do I believe what I believe?" And yes, Karl Rove is on the payroll of Faux News.

"My choice early in life was either to be a piano-player in a whorehouse or a politician. And to tell the truth, there's hardly any difference."
~ Harry S. Truman
Fox News Reporting: The Right, All Along. The Rise, Fall & Future of Conservatism (DVD)

Definition of Vasectomy?

[vuh-SEK-tuh-mee]
noun: a 30 minutes of less surgical procedure intended to provide a permanent method of male birth control (see contraceptive)

Original photo by Peter Rimar.

Sports Rule #1:

Never BLAME the FANS for your professional shortcomings?

"All the people that were rooting on me to fail, at the end of the day they have to wake up tomorrow and have the same life that they had before they woke up today. They have the same personal problems they had today."
~ LeBron James

Lebron James: The Making of an MVP (Paperback)

...life in contrast...

Beijing, P.R.C. (May 2008)

Photo by Peter Rimar

‎...yesterday, today & tomorrow...

"We are not afraid to entrust the American people with unpleasant facts, foreign ideas, alien philosophies, and competitive values. For a nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people."
~ John F. Kennedy



Photo by Peter Rimar. Las Vegas, Nevada (December 2003).

Mitt Romney ~ Serial Flip Flopper?

YouTube has changed forever how a campaign manages the theme and messages of a candidate. Love it or hate it, in 2012, every recorded word a politician utters in front of voters becomes part of the digital public record. In an exclusive news release to Reuters in January, Google reported roughly '60 hours of video is now uploaded to YouTube every minute'. The theory that a candidate can use an 'etch-a-sketch' to change political direction in the middle of a campaign is dead. Campaigns are no longer a debate over ideas but about the actual use of words. And yes, this blogger believes a politician's use of words reveals something about the person. Read More...

Betty White endorses Obama for re-election?
Read More...

Wife hits husband with SUV after fight over Wisconsin recall election?

Is Faux News inserting the quote 'crazy liberal nuts' into a story loosely related to Governor Scott Walker's recall election an example of 'mainstream media bias'? Read More...

In 2012, a Republican husband attempting to stop his Democratic wife from voting is normal? Is physically blocking a wife from exercising her rights under the 19th Amendment a 'conservative value'? Maybe it's just me, but in the view of this blogger, a husband attempting to restrain the movement of a wife is a 'big red flag' indicating a possible pattern of domestic abuse. 

Faux News now asking: Is the drop in gas prices a 'Bad Thing'?
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"Get a haircut and get a new job"?

A tax subsidy is an entitlement? Who knew?

Lord Voldemort's "Minister for Magic" arrested? Scotland Yard posts bobbies outside 221B Baker Street? President Obama considers pardoning Hugh Grant? Faux News denies the existence of England?

Parliament's criticism of Murdoch may spell the end of his UK business, but in his News Corp stronghold he remains secure
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Power is CRACK? Money buys CRACK?

"Liberal friends think I'm a Fascist; Conservative friends think I'm a Communist." 
~ John Gorelski

We are the 99%?
Elizabeth Warren vs. Libertarianism

‎"There is nobody in this country who got rich on his own. Nobody. You built a factory out there—good for you. But I want to be clear. You moved your goods to market on the roads the rest of us paid for. You hired workers the rest of us paid to educate. You were safe in your factory because of police forces and fire forces that the rest of us paid for. … You built a factory and it turned into something terrific or a great idea—God bless, keep a big hunk of it. But part of the underlying social contract is [that] you take a hunk of that and pay forward for the next kid who comes along." ~ Elizabeth Warren

...perspective...

Photo by Peter Rimar taken at Fenghuang, PRC (April 2009).
Click on image to open in a new window.

GOP declares 'War on Women'?

In 2012, why is the word 'WAR' being used to describe each and every non-violent political debate, but an actual 'War', with bullets and bombs, is called a 'conflict' or 'military operation'?

The Shrinking Republican Women's Vote?
Read More...

Jon Huntsman Compares Republican Party to Communist Party? For the record, this blogger lived and worked in the People's Republic of China for almost two years. Last year, I reached the same painful conclusion regarding today's Teapublican Party.
Read More...

Digital Warfare?

"This is your last chance. After this there is no turning back. You take the blue pill: the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill: you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes." ~ Morpheus, The Matrix

Arnold Schwarzenegger sent John Edwards a 'thank you note' for taking the term 'pond scum' to a whole new level?

‎


"A public man must never forget that he loses his usefulness when he as an individual, rather than his policy, becomes the issue."
~ President Richard M. Nixon
Leaders (Hardcover)

What do the Chinese Fortune Cookie and Cinco De Mayo have in common?

Despite popular opinion, the Fortune Cookie is not Chinese and the yearly Cinco De Mayo celebration did not originate in Mexico itself. Cinco de Mayo is not Mexican Independence Day. So, what is the connection? Both the Fortune Cookie and Cinco De Mayo share historic roots in California.
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Mesilla, New Mexico (September 2009)

Introduction to Political Science 101?

"You can roll manure in powdered sugar but it still ain't a jelly doughnut."
~ Berta




In other news, Exxon-Mobil announced that it plans to lay off 25 Congressmen? Shell and BP are considering similar cutbacks? Ron Paul Flunks History? Read More...

Newt Gingrich endorses Mitt Romney?

Question: "Are you calling Mitt Romney a lair?"
Newt: "Yes."


Romney Pays Surprise Visit to his Money in the Caymans?
No Timetable for Withdrawal, Says Presumptive Nominee
Read More...

Sign at the Great Wall of China (May 2008)

The Propaganda of Politics?

"I have been thinking that I would make a proposition to my Republican friends - that if they will stop telling lies about the Democrats, we will stop telling the truth about them." ~ Adlai E. Stevenson

President George Bush never gave a 'Mission Accomplished' speech on the USS Abraham Lincoln on May 1, 2003? What if the Navy Seal mission into Abbottabad had failed? Would the Republican Party had made a repeat of a Desert One type failure a campaign issue in 2012?

Between the Eisenhower Administration and right up to the preemptive war in Iraq, the Republican Party was seen as the foreign policy leader on national security issues. This is no longer the case. While I have the deepest respect for John McCain, his recent statements about staying in Afghanistan forever completely lacks long term vision or insight.

Additionally, for as long as this blogger can remember, there has been an unwritten political rule NOT to attack or criticize the foreign policy efforts of a sitting President when he's not on American soil.



Update: Obama Needles Romney on Old Bin Laden Quotes?
Read More...